Monday

Closed

Tuesday

10:00 am - 7:00 pm

Wednesday

10:00 am - 7:00 pm

Thursday

10:00 am - 9:00 pm

Friday

10:00 am - 7:00 pm

Saturday

10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Sunday

12:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

Located in Houston’s Museum District 5216 Montrose Blvd, Houston, TX 77006 Street parking is available for free. Buses 056 and 298 to Montrose Blvd @ Bissonnet St. Take the METRORail to the Museum District stop.

History & Mission

This Is Contemporary Art, 1948. Exhibition and catalogue designed by Frank Dolejska.

In the beginning

1948

A group of seven Houston citizens founded Contemporary Arts Museum Houston in 1948. This newly formed institution had a goal to present and document new art and its role in modern life through exhibitions, lectures, and other activities. The Museum’s history of exhibitions began with those presented at various sites throughout the city. For example, TheMuseum of FineArts,Houston held early exhibitions thatincluded This is Contemporary Art and L. Moholy-Nagy: Memorial Exhibition.

1950–1960

The success of the institution’s early efforts led to the building of a small, professionally equipped facility in 1950. It was in CAMH’s first home that ambitious exhibitions of the work of Vincent van Gogh, Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, and Max Ernst were presented. In addition, exhibitions by artist John Biggers and his students from the then-fledgling Texas Negro College (now TexasSouthernUniversity) reflected Houston’s receptiveness to new ideas.

Expanded facility, expanded impact

1970–1980

Exterior view of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, 1972.

The Museum’s programs and audiences had outgrown its facility by the middle of the 1970s. As a result, this led trustees to secure capital funds and a prominent site on the corner of Montrose and Bissonnet. In 1972 the new building, designed by Gunnar Birkerts, was built. The present facility opened with the controversial exhibition Ten, which featured several artists working in non-traditional media.

The Museum continued its commitment to showcasing the newest national and regional art throughout the 1970s. This commitment was on view in exhibitions including John Chamberlain, Dalé Gas (one of the first surveys of Hispanic artists in the U.S.), and a major thematic exhibition, American Narrative/Story Art 1967-1977. Exhibitions of new Texas talent additionally gave early recognition and encouragement to James Surls, John Alexander, and Luis Jiménez.

1980–1990

The Museum contributed vigorously to the emergence of Houston as one of the most significant cultural centers in the nation during the 1980s. From 1979 to 1984, the Museum grew rapidly. CAMH extended its reach with major exhibitions that presented and toured thematic exhibitions ranging from performance art to still-life painting during this time. In addition, the museum presented a number of one-person shows of nationally-known artists such as Ida Applebroog, Robert Morris, Pat Steir, Bill Viola, and Frank Stella. Exhibitions featuring important Texas artists were also a focus of the 1980s. Examples of such exhibitions included artists Earl Staley, Melissa Miller, and Vernon Fisher.

At the start of the decade, then-Director Linda L. Cathcart established Perspectives in the Museum’s lower gallery. Perspectives was a fast-paced series of medium-sized exhibitions focusing on cycles of work by emerging and well-known artists not previously shown in Houston. The series collectively mounted over 170 shows during its nearly forty-year run.

CAMH closed for its first major facility renovation in 25 years on January 1, 1997. The Museum reopened to the public on May 10 that same year following a highly successful capital campaign. The first exhibition in the newly renovated space was Finders/Keepers. This landmark exhibition documented the institution’s relationship to the community, by borrowing back important works of art that had remained in the region after first being presented in CAMH exhibitions.

CAMH celebrated its 65th anniversary in 2013 with Outside the Lines, a six-part exhibition series conceived as an evolving dialogue on contemporary abstraction. CAMH’s then-director Bill Arning and full curatorial staff—Valerie Cassel Oliver and Dean Daderko—each organized two exhibitions that were installed in two rounds in both the Brown Foundation and the Zilkha galleries. This exhibition was not only hugely successful, it also united the whole museum in one thematic exhibition for the first time. On the day of the opening—October 31, 2013—the city of Houston declaring it “Contemporary Arts Museum Houston Day.”

Moving contemporary forward

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston continues to look forward with exhibitions that exemplify the art of today. From German painters to South African videographers to Houston sculptors, the Museum is proud to show work by artists from many different cultures and backgrounds.

CAMH Mission

CAMH is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the highest national recognition achievable by an American museum. Alliance accreditation signifies excellence and accountability to the entire museum community, to governments and outside agencies and to the museum-going public.

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